[EXCURSION] 'Traces of the Independence Movement in Seodaemun' with Matt Volkenburg

EXCURSION THEME:
“Traces of the Independence Movement in Seodaemun”

LEADER: Matt VanVolkenburg


DATE: Saturday, July 12, 2025. 1:00 PM~5:00 PM.

DESTINATION: Seodaemun area in Seoul

COST: W30,000 for RAS Korea lifetime and annual members; W35,000 for Non-members

MEETING POINT: At the top of Exit 5 of Dongnimmun Station (독립문역, #326, Subway Line 3)

RSVP by July 10 (Thursday) with payment of the fee via bank transfer.

REGISTER HERE ☞ https://forms.gle/qXCvBM7ZzGbWBH9Q9

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☞Payment to be remitted to the following account:
SHINHAN BANK ACCOUNT # 100-026-383501 (RAS-KB)

*Reservation is not confirmed until payment has been received by RAS Korea in advance of the event.



In the Seodaemun area stand a number of preserved houses connected to the independence movement that have been converted to museums. As the weather grows hotter and wetter, we will spend much of our time indoors as we move from museum to museum and learn about independence movement figures and Seodaemun’s history while also examining the ways in which the past has been preserved in the area.

We will set off from Dongnimun Station and visit the recently-opened National Memorial of the Korean Provisional Government, which overlooks Seodaemun Prison. After learning about overseas attempts to gain Korea’s independence, we will walk past the Independence gate to Dilkusha, the former home of Albert and Mary Taylor. Albert Taylor was involved in mining in northern Korea, but it was his work as a journalist that led him to document aspects of the 1919 March 1 independence movement. After years of being subdivided into apartments, the city bought the house and restored it, converting it into a museum which displays mementos donated by the Taylors’ descendants.

From there we will walk to the nearby, recently-opened Lee Hoe-yeong Memorial Hall, which is set in one of two houses built in the early 1900s where missionaries teaching at the nearby Baehwa Girls’ School lived. Lee Hoe-yeong was a Korean independence activist, anarchist, and one of the founders of Shinheung Military Academy in Manchuria. He used his considerable wealth to contest the Japanese occupation of Korea and died in prison in China in 1932.

After passing by the home of musician Hong Nan-pa, a western-style ‘Culture House’ which was built in the 1930s, we will walk along the restored city wall to Gyeonggyojang, which was built in 1938 and served as the home of independence activist Kim Ku from 1945 until his assassination in 1949 – which took place in the house. Today it has been converted into a museum, which we will visit.

We will end our walk in Donuimun Museum Village, a restored neighborhood which features a local history museum, a memorial hall dedicated to Francis Schofield, a Canadian missionary and supporter of Korean Independence, and numerous buildings in which theaters, photo shops, and comic book reading rooms of the past have been recreated. The current city government plans to demolish this village by next year, so chances to visit it grow shorter by the day.

This walking excursion will set off at 1:00 pm from exit 5 of Dongnimmun Station (독립문역) #326 (subway line number 3). The excursion will last until about 5:00 and end between Gwanghwamun Station and Seodaemun Station (Subway Line 5). Participants may join Matt afterwards for a coffee or an early dinner (not included in the excursion fee) nearby. The walk is mostly flat, but comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

You may also like the following events from Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch:

• This month, 22nd July, 07:20 pm, [LECTURE] "Flower of Capitalism": Dreams and Realities of South Korean Advertising in Seoul

Also check out other Meetups in Seoul, Music events in Seoul, Entertainment events in Seoul.